Perfect 10 as SA swimmers make their mark at nationals

Updated: April 17, 2016

The SA National Aquatic Championships were successfully wrapped up on Saturday with 10 athletes swimming to 13 Olympic Qualifying Times.All 10 athletes who swam qualifying times for the Rio Olympics were male.
In the multi-disability section, a phenomenal five female and five male swimmers clocked 17 Paralympic Qualifying Times during the week-long competition which took place at the Kings Park Aquatics Centre in Durban.
The KZN trio of Chad le Clos, Matthew Meyer and Brad Tandy entrenched their names firmly in the minds of the national selectors as they confirmed their Olympic qualifying times on the last evening of the competition.
Le Clos’ outstanding performance earned him his third Olympic Qualification time and the gold medal in the 100m butterfly when he touched the wall in 51.82 ahead of Dylan Bosch in 53.00 and Ryan Coetzee in 53.21.
In the 50m freestyle, Tandy sped to the finish line in an Olympic Qualification time of 22.13, followed by Douglas Erasmus in 22.55 and Roland Schoeman in 22.75.
Finishing over five seconds ahead of the pack, Meyer scooped the gold in the 1500m freestyle with an Olympic Qualification time of 15:09.58 to the 15:14.77 requirement. Brent Szurdoki won the silver in 15:15.50 and Josh Dannhauser the bronze in 15:44.57.
In the non-Olympic 50m breaststroke final, Cameron van der Burgh was once again on top, clocking 27.17, with the silver medal going to Giulio Zorzi in 27.50 and the bronze to Jarred Crous in 27.99, while in the tightly contested 50m butterfly race, Brett Walsh finished first in 24.21 ahead of Reynard Wessels in 24.31 and Nico Meyer in 24.40.
Nathania van Niekerk ended the competition with a gold medal in the 200m backstroke, touching the wall in 2:11.33 ahead of Mariella Venter in 2:11.99 and Samantha Randle in 2:17.28, while the 50m breaststroke was won by Tara Nicholas in 31.82 to Taryn Mackenzie’s 32.15 and Tatjana Schoenmaker’s 32.25.
Tayla Lovemore was quick off the block in the 50m freestyle, winning the event in 25.97 to Jessica Ashley-Cooper’s 26.10 and Emma Chelius’ 26.40, while Vanessa Mohr, Felicity Passon and Hannah McLean-Leonard topped the 50m butterfly final in 26.85, 28.06 and 28.41 respectively.
Carissa van Rooyen celebrated her win in the 50m backstroke in 30.41, followed by Gabi Grobler in 30.47 and Catherine Sainsbury in 30.56, while on the men’s side, Ricky Ellis came first in his respective backstroke race in 25.83, while Jacques van Wyk and Christopher Reid shared the silver medal in 25.97.
In the long distance 800m freestyle, Michelle Weber came from behind and walked away with the gold medal in 8:57.68 ahead of Jessica Whelan (8:58.68) and Kristin Bellingan (8:59.03).
In the multi-disability category, Aaron Putz won the S14 and S15 50m breaststroke title in 35.33 ahead of Pierre Dellieu in 32.87 and Raymond de Freitas in 36.66, while on the women’s side, Maritza Snyder claimed the gold in 45.74 and Michaela Kretzen and Cornelia Fowler the silver and bronze in 49.25 and 50.18 respectively.
In the S1-S13 events, Hendrik van der Merwe was victorious in 46.85 with the silver going to Johann van Heerden in 32.40 and the bronze to Jean Pretorius in 35.96, as Britney Strumpher won her respective race in 37.29 ahead of Alani Ferreira in 41.17 and Sannon Martins in 47.39.
The final Olympic and Paralympic teams will be selected by SASCOC.
The staging of this event was made possible through the support provided by Swimming SA partners, Sport and Recreation South Africa, SASCOC, National Lotteries Commission, Arena, Rand Water and the SABC.